The closure of an educational program for at-risk Aboriginal youth in the region is being suggested as one reason behind the recent jump in crime in the Northern Rivers.
At a series of recent community crime meetings, senior police have said key offenders in places like Suffolk Park and Lennox Heads are young people coming in from outlying areas, including Lismore, Goonellabah and Coraki.
The Aboriginal Alternative Learning Program (AALP) had operated for many years in exactly those areas, working to keep children educated and out of jail, but it was closed abruptly in August last year, amid a storm of protest.
It’s unclear why the program was cut by the NSW Labor government.
At the time of the closure in August, Casino mother Caroline Wilson presciently warned in The Echo that ‘With at-risk children wandering the streets together, feeling abandoned and with nothing to do, you can guarantee an increase in community unrest.’
Increased crime
Parents and teachers contacted in the past week all say they have watched with horror as crime has risen in recent months, and all see a connection between the education program closure, and the increase in car theft, and break and enters.
‘Our communities are hurting’ says Mandy Nolan, Greens candidate for the federal seat of Richmond. She’s been listening at community crime meetings over the summer.
‘Clearly, there are complex causes driving these crimes, including the devastation from the 2022 floods, and the deep crisis of unaffordable housing. Solving this problem is also complex, but one key solution comes from education programs like the one shut down in August.’
‘This is a compassionate community,’ says Ms Nolan. ‘People don’t want their houses broken into, but people also want to see solutions that prevent crime.’
The innovative program worked with families and elders, and saw teachers regularly visiting at-risk and vulnerable children across the region, engaging them in educational, work-readiness, and recreational activities.
A hundred kids lost access to program
It was closed in late 2024 with an estimated 100 local kids losing access.
Mel Williams, mother of six in Coraki, said the program had built trust with local kids, particularly in the aftermath of the floods, and was ‘something successful in keeping them engaged and out of trouble.’
She said the closure had led to a ‘downfall in our community’, with crime rates up and children ending up back in juvenile detention.
Superintendent Scott Tanner from the Richmond Police District, who helped Mel set up a hub for the program in Coraki, told The Echo that, ‘That hub facility was a place for young people to come to who had completely fallen out of the education system’.
‘It gave them connection, the help they needed to continue an education, get a white card [needed to work in construction] write CVs, etc. It didn’t have to be a formal education, but it helped develop the skills to get employment etc.
‘That is the way out of poverty and disadvantage for these young people.
‘What we have found post-flood and post-covid is that youth crime in our area has gone up substantially. There is a disconnection from education, community, culture.’
Need engagement
‘If you haven’t got kids engaged, you’re going to have trouble. It’s as simple as that’ says John McVeigh, the creator of the program, which ran across community hubs from Grafton to Tweed.
‘It was diversional and educational, and we did so many good things with the kids, from literacy to numeracy, from surfing to fishing.’
Tweed mother Sharyn Logan says it was ‘a brilliant program’.
Her four Indigenous children were all involved in the program over the years, and all have now completed year 12, with three of them going to university. ‘Of course, there is a connection between the closure of this program and the latest wave of youth crime. Without doubt.’
Several teachers who worked with the program declined to comment publicly, owing to a fear of reprisals, but all see a link between local crime and the program closure, with at least one former student directly identified in social media images being circulated.
While the program’s main funding came from the state education department, it also relied on funding from the federal government.
Tough-on-crime MP
‘While investing in programs that divert young offenders away from a life of crime is important, when it comes to those serious hard-core repeat criminals, they must be held to account,’ Richmond MP Justine Elliot told The Echo.
‘As a former frontline police officer, I know first-hand the hard work that our police officers do to keep our community safe, but I’m pushing for more resources including CCTVs across our region and the need for serious consequences for those committing serious crimes.
‘I strongly support the tough new youth offender laws that the NSW government has recently brought in and the introduction of Jack’s Law to address knife crime.
‘I’ve also launched a community survey on residents’ experiences with local crime which has had a huge response. I’ll be taking the findings of this survey directly to the NSW government,’ Ms Elliot said.
The cost of keeping a young person in juvenile jail is around one million dollars a year, and Sharyn points out, ‘the goal is to keep them out in the first place. It doesn’t cost, it pays to run early intervention and education programs like the one they closed.’
Cost effective prevention
‘All the evidence suggests it’s much more cost-effective to try and break the cycles that cause offending, rather than spend a million dollars a year locking a young person up,’ said Ms Nolan.
‘Putting kids in prison makes them more likely to re-offend, not less. The government’s approach is not working, and educational programs like this will help keep our communities safer.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
